Thursday of Week 2

Hi Everyone-
  Today was a hard day for us. Derrick coughed most of the night and since we are all in the same room we were all up most of the night. I took him to Wentz Medical Clinic this morning. This is a clinic that ekissa works with through ARM (African Renewal Ministries) so it happens to be one of the nicest medical facilities in Uganda. I can tell you that we all need to be thankful for the medical facilities that we have available to us in the US. First of all most of the medical facilities are in one room shacks with a sign sometimes misspelled that reads "medical clinic." I don't know if that means a certified doctor is on staff or not. We did see certified doctors I think. It is a small open air building where all of the work is done under one roof. We had lab work done to check for malaria and then the pharmacy for the medicine is also in the same building. It would be nice if a Walgreens or CVS would open at Forsyth or Baptist Hospital. Derrick was treated for an upper respiratory infection but he didn't have malaria. They drew blood to check for malaria and I was the only one that jumped. He didn't move a muscle and didn't even flinch when they stuck him. 
He sat with me for over 2 hours and didn't complain or move around. There were many people there with sick children who were having to call others for the money that they needed to pay for their visit or treatment. It cost me 25,000 shillings for the visit and the medicine. This equals about $10 american dollars. It really makes you stop and think....
  Olive also was diagnosed with malaria today. She kept saying she didn't feel good so we suggested this afternoon that she go to the clinic. She had two injections and has to go back tomorrow for another one to be completely treated. 
 It is a different world here that is for sure. Steve and I both struggled today with feeling homesick. The days are long and they are also hard. It feels so selfish to complain about what we are dealing with because basically we are only getting a taste of how hard it is to live here.  We have many modern conveniences here that the majority of the population doesn't have. 
 I am going to just list a few of the things we have to consider on any given day:
 Brushing your teeth: you can not use the running water-so you must have bottled water available
Coming inside the house: you must take your shoes off to prevent parasites and red dirt from coming inside
Showers: you have to make sure the heater has been turned on prior to getting in or you can be sure it will be cold.
Dishes: all dishes must be hand washed in the undrinkable water. Are they clean?
Trash is separated from any scrap food-all trash is burned even plastic bottles. You smell this burning 24 hour a day.
Clothes: always hand washed and dried on the line. Then they must be ironed in order to kill the insects or parasites that may have collected while on the line. This includes any towels, socks or linens.
Sleep: You can not go to sleep without making sure mosquito net is tucked in on all 4 sides. Makes it difficult to get up in the night to go to the bathroom.
Bathrooms: Often times in public there is no paper available or soap to wash your hands. 
There are never any paper towels, or hand towels in any place. They leave the wash basin with wet hands.
Air conditioning: we have had only at the US Embassy so you go to bed with hot air and wake up with hot air. We are lucky we have a fan.
It may sound as if I am complaining and if you had seen me at 3:00 today you would have known that I was. BUT....these people have a very good attitude for what they deal with on any given day. They are appreciative of any food or convenience they may be have. So all in all Steve and I don't have it so bad. We will be happy to be in the comfort of our own home and hopefully will appreciate what we have a little more.
  We are both praying and hoping that Edith nor either one of us gets this cold that Derrick is fighting. So we would appreciate your prayers for that. We have been taking malaria medicine since we left home so hopefully this will prevent that. We love to get emails as that gives us something to read, so please keep sending them. The kids continue to amaze us and completely exhaust us.